Expat wanderer

Airline Fees We Love To Hate

It goes without saying that of the many gripes travelers currently have about flying, the so-called ancillary fees charged by the airlines for, well, everything they can disaggregate from the core service would rank near the top of the most-despised list.

But of the multitude of such fees, which irk travelers the most?

A new survey conducted by Skift shines some light into that dark corner of the travel experience.

According to a poll of 1,000 adults, the most and least reviled airline fees are as follows:

Bag check fees (50.1%)
Seat selection fees (18.4%)
Inflight WiFi fees (12.4%)
Inflight food or beverage fees (9.7%)
Early boarding fees (9.4%)
Although there was general unanimity across age and other groups, there were a few interesting demographic disconnects:

Wealthier travelers were less bothered by bag fees but more bothered by seat-selection fees.

Less wealthy travelers were notably less bothered by inflight meal/drink fees.
Younger flyers were more bothered by inflight WiFi fees.

Travelers 65 years and older were most bothered by inflight meal/drink fees.